BOLOGNESE SCHOOL, 17TH CENTURY
Caine and Abel
black chalk on buff paper
unidentified crossed keys watermark
44 x 30 cm

The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the School of Bologna, flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives include the Carracci family, including Ludovico Carracci his influence can be see in the present work, and his two cousins, the brothers Agostino and Annibale Carracci. Later, it included other Baroque painters: Domenichino and Lanfranco, active mostly in Rome, eventually Guercino and Guido Reni, and Accademia degli Incamminati in Bologna, which was run by Lodovico Carracci.